SAFE CITY RANKING FALLS TO 8 CRIME JUMPS IN 2001.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - While still in the top 10, Santa Clarita fell two spots in the FBI's annual ranking of the nation's safest cities, according to preliminary results released Tuesday.

Three slayings and a jump in reported burglaries and thefts in 2001 contributed to Santa Clarita's fall from sixth to eighth place on the list, which ranked 236 U.S. cities with populations of at least 100,000, according to an FBI report. But Santa Clarita is the fifth-safest city in California, behind Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Daly City and Sunnyvale.

``Our population has continued to increase and crime decrease'' in recent years, said Capt. Don Rodriguez of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station. ``This is our first increase in crime.''

Part I crimes - serious offenses including homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, grand theft auto and arson - declined by 33 percent in the city of Santa Clarita from 1995 to 2000 but are now on the rise in this rapidly growing Los Angeles suburb.

After no killings in 2000, the city was the site of three in 2001 - a domestic violence homicide, a follow-home robbery and a home invasion.

Local law enforcement reported 67 more burglaries and 103 more vehicle thefts than in 2000, while the number of forcible rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults decreased.

Rodriguez attributed some of the increase in larceny-theft - up 330 cases to 1,831 in 2001 - to a wave of vehicle break-ins in the first few months of 2001.

``We experienced a rash of vehicle burglaries early in the year, and we eventually arrested 25 different suspects for that,'' Rodriguez said.

``Historically our crime rate has been low, based on a lot of the programs the City Council has put in place,'' he said. ``We tend to focus on prevention here, on programs that keep the kids involved.''

The city spends $11.8 million on parks and recreation, including after- school programs and youth activities - $100,000 more than on law enforcement. City officials have committed significant resources to the city's young people, opening two parks in the past two months.

``We are very pleased with our ability to keep our crime rate relatively low despite our increase in population,'' said Gail Ortiz, spokeswoman for the city of Santa Clarita.

``We are very pleased that we spend more money not only on recreation and other programs for our youth, but also on our capital budget, which builds new facilities for families, helping keep kids out of trouble,'' she said.

While both said they were pleased with Santa Clarita's ranking, Ortiz and Rodriguez stressed that the FBI rankings do not break down crimes per capita, which, they said, would put the numbers in greater perspective.

Santa Clarita's population increased from 151,088 in 2000 to more than 155,000 in 2001 - a jump of nearly 3 percent.

``We're growing so fast, we have to work that much harder to keep the crime rate low, and we're doing that,'' Ortiz said.